Red Barge Is Death, Life
Slowly, Swab's eyes fluttered open. He blinked, squinting curiously at his surroundings.
The brig loomed around the colt. The walls and ceiling still shook from the distant thuds of the fight. Across the debris-riddled floor, Swab spotted Croche. The filly was craning her neck, peering deep into Rainbow's cell.
Swab stirred. Wincing, he stood up, teetered slightly, then hobbled his way closer to the bars. As he approached the cell, Rainbow's raspy voice gradually came into focus.
“Are you doing okay, Flutters?” A pause. “I know... I know. I... I'd be lying if I told you it'll get better. The only thing violence is good for is getting more violent.” Another pause. “No. That... that doesn't mean that I've changed my mind about... mmmrff... you know...”
More thuds. Swab had gone far beyond flinching. He stood besides Croche. She glanced at him, gulped, then resumed staring into the cell.
A petite pegasus stood in the shadows, huddled, staring into empty space.
“I know this is different. Doesn't make things any... less terrible. Then or now. But darn it... can't you get them to open their eyes? Even now?” She hugged herself, shivering suddenly. Her muzzle clenched, and ultimately she squeaked forth: “Don't you see, girls? I know you're there... somewhere. I know you can hear me. All of this? All of this horrible crud? We can stop it! I have the power! We have the power! If you would j-just... come out. Let me see and feel beyond these walls... I... I can make a difference. I can get it all to stop. Yes it will be violent. Messy even. But when does it all end? It won't finish itself! That's where the Austraeoh—... ... ...that's where I come in. It's not an easy truth... or a fun one. But it's an awesome one. And if there's something you girls never got the chance to figure out about me, it's that... th-that being awesome isn't always about fun or winning. Sometimes... sometimes you gotta lose awesomely too. And I've lost... I-I've lost so much, girls. That's why I am who I am now, but this new me needs you still. This whole stinkin' world needs you... here and there... and beyond.”
She buried her face in her hooves, shuddering.
“Please. If you won't listen to me, then listen to Fluttershy. Hear her crying. You're as much a part of that as... as I am. As all of this is... please... we can't hide from it any longer. Stop. Stop h-hiding from me. Please... please... oh Goddess please...”
Slowly, one limping hoof after another, Quint and Whony climbed over a soot-stained bulkhead. An inordinate amount of blood stained their coats, as well as the foals gathering tightly behind him. The orphans collectively stared at the lengths of Red Barge—cluttered with bodies, blood, and limbs.
Off in the distance, the pirates were regrouping. They picked up weapons, blades, and polearms—all glistening in a brilliant plume of fire.
Quint turned, squinting at the northwest horizon.
“What happened to the slaver's ships?” Whony wheezed.
Quint shuddered. “...I think they happened all over the seven seas from that last blast.”
“That's it,” a colt whimpered. “We're done for.”
“Quiet...” Quint exhaled.
“They'll drag us to mudtop, skin us, and use us for manure bags—”
“I said shut up!” Quint snarled. He pointed. “Fight's not over.”
“But Quint,” Whony remarked. “Looks like Skagra's got all the dredgers gathered in the center. Shouldn't we join them?”
Quint exhaled heavily. “Not gonna make much of a friggin' difference.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because once those ships open fire again,” Quint said, gesturing at the three pirate ships bearing down on the unprotected western struts of Red Barge. “...we're done for.”
“Ah jeez...” Whony winced. “See them turning broadside?”
“It's now or ever,” Quint said, ice blue eyes darting about. “All on Skagra.”
“Uhhhh...” Nixkit gulped, pointing at the northwest horizon. “...boss?”
Skagra stood up on a pile of crates, narrowing his uneven eyes on the burning horizon. Digiff and several other bloodsoaked dredgers shuffled up, gazing alongside him.
The pirate ships pivoted into position. All of their cannons extended from their starboard sides—doubly-loaded and directly facing the Barge.
“They're gonna douse us with the rest of Chandler's generosity,” Skagra slurred. “Then scurry in and peel the Rainbow Rogue's flesh from the bulkheads if they have to.”
“Shit on a fish stick...” Digiff exhaled.
Keris took a deep breath. He glanced behind at the huddled, sobbing families all gathered along the central platform. “Move them southeast. Position them behind the central towers and smokestacks.” He looked at Skagra. “Your office and the building supporting it are the most secure structures above sea level. They'll hold.”
“No...” Skagra muttered.
Keris' beak rattled. “No?!”
“If we're going to win this battle, then every dredger on board must witness what we stand to lose, otherwise the fight dwindles.”
“Spoken like a true psychopath!” Keris hollered.
“No.” Skagra shook his scarred head. “Spoken like the truest psychopath.” He turned to glare sideways at the griffon. “This ain't a sanctuary to your goddess, birdie. You gotta make love to chaos to run it.” Schiiing! Producing a dagger, he started trotting towards the company of pirates two struts away. “And I'm the loverboy this damn Barge needs.” His nostrils flared. “It's as simple as it bloats out here in the seven seas. Cruelty is my most loyal mistress, and I'll be damned if I let her retire.”
“You have mares and foals to protect!” Keris shouted. He gestured at the towers above them. “You have the resources—!”
“Dredgers of Red Barge...” Nixkit somberly picked up a spare polearm and marched right after Skagra. “...we have a battle to win.”
Digiff and several others marched along with him, advancing forward—facing the pirates and the three ships beyond.
“Stop! Will you please stop and think for yourselves for once?!” Keris stumbled after them. In desperation, he perched high on a stack of crates and shouted: “For the Goddess' sake!” He pointed at Skagra. “I know this monster has scarred your bodies and your children's bodies for life!” He sneered. “But do not let him scar your soul! There has to be a better way! A smarter way!”
“Red Barge is life. Red Barge is death. There is nothing beyond,” Skagra said. “Your holy Talon believes this as much as we do, birdie. Now either give it up or join us. I promise...” He used the dagger to toss his bangs aside—they only drooped back. “...it's gonna get really juicy.”
“They're about to light up!” Digiff shouted, eyes on the centralmost ship and its cannons.
“Dredgers...!” Nixkit hollered.
The pirates came charging towards them, galloping and leaping over the bulkheads.
Skagra's muzzle half-smirked. “...time to turn the muck red.”
But just as the dredgers began their return charge—
POWWWW! The centermost pirate ship exploded... but not with its own cannonfire. The bulkheads of the Barge glistened yet again as the vessel and its contents were blown sky-high in a brilliant red plume of flame.
The chargings pirates stopped in their tracks, turning around.
Skagra, Nixkit, and Digiff stumbled, gaping.
Even Keris was left breathless.
In the far distance...
...a massive metal shape plowed through the smoldering remains of its sister ship. Monket's vessel was viciously battle-scarred, with savage chunks of its hull missing from its port side. Nevertheless, the steamship chugged tenaciously forward. Even at a wicked lean, the slaver managed to bring the craft around so that its starboard side cannons faced the opposition.
The stallion in question gripped the rudder wheel himself. Burnt and blood-stained, he nevertheless sported a haunting grin. The ends of his dreadlocks sputtered with sparks and ashes as he hollered over his shoulder, “Are the cannons reloaded?!”
The few remaining crew members who were not dead or maimed complied. “Armed and ready!”
“Aim for the rear hold!” Monket pointed over the splashing waves at the northernmost pirate ship. “That's where its ordinance is! Hit it fast! Hit it deep!”
“On your mark, master!”
Monkert spat: “Fire!”
POW!
P-P-POW!
Burning hot projectiles sailed into the pirate ship... and then there was no pirate ship. The thing blew apart into three pieces, tossing splinters and meaty scraps of once-privateers high into the air. The debris was burning even as it sank underwater. Monket's ship rolled through it, curving northeast as it came about to aim at the last remaining pirate vessel.
As for the skiff in question, the crew members on board were floundering about. With panicked shrieks, they formed a hasty retreat, sailing off torwards the northwest as fast as their ship could carry them.
“They're trying to escape sir!” One of the servants hollered, reloading the cannons with a final payload. “If we bring her about, we just might be able to graze them—”
“No.” Monket exhaled. He turned about, leaning with a slumped sigh against the rudder-wheel. “Let them go.” His bruised face bore a pale grin. “Let them return to speak of their defeat. I want Mudtop to know all that's happened today... so that when I return there...” His pale red eyes narrowed. “...they'll treat Skagra like a king... and myself like a god.”
“They're retreating!” Digiff hollered. “You see that! Hah! That octopus-headed bastard bucked them over big time!”
“Mother of muck...” Nixkit exhaled. He leaned against his grip of a polearm. “...he actually came through.”
“Just goes to show...” Skagra stifled a yawn while several of the dredgers and families behind them broke into hysterical cheering. “A Monket in the hoof is worth two really big, smelly ones in the sea.”
Meanwhile, the pirates still left on board the Barge began to stammer and yelp in panic. Several of them waved wildly at the retreating vessel, screaming at the skiff to turn back. There was no response, of course, and soon the invaders found themselves stranded in the middle of a floating sea of metal and rust. One by one, they shivered... trotting... then running... then full-force galloping towards the westernmost struts where most of the damage was. Any of the pirate pegasi still left in the sky sped off for random horizons, ditching the battle altogether.
“Look at them...” Digiff snorted. “What are they going to do? Swim back to Mudtop?”
“Why don't you let them reach Mudbottom?” Skagra pointed forward with is dagger. “'Pirates' are on the menu, boys!”
“You heard the boss!” Nixkit grinned wickedly, galloping forward. “Show no mercy!”
“Yaaaaaaaugh!” Digiff joined him.
In swift order, the forces of Red Barge galloped westward, chasing the pirates—overtaking them and slicing and dicing the pleading attackers to bloody bits.
All the while, Keris hollered, shrieked: “No! Don't! Can't you see?! They've given up! You don't have to do this!” He sneered through his beak. “Please! You don't have to live this way! There's no need for any more violence! The battle is over! The battle is won! Blessed Verlaxion! Isn't this Barge painted red enough?!”
“Ohhhhh birdie birdie birdie...” Skagra paced leisurely behind the squawking griffon. He picked up a loose length of pipe, then swung it hard. “...how I sicken of your insufferable parrot shrieks.”
Keris was too slow to dodge—CLANG! “Ooomf!” The Lieutenant stumbled over. His expert muscles kicked in, and he nearly stood himself back up—only to receive a second blow to the spine. WHACK! “Unnngh!” he fell hard to his chest, wincing.
“Hrmmmfff... takes a licking and keeps on pissing me off...” Cl-Clack! Skagra dropped the pipe and trotted around. His body briefly blocked the bloodbath way ahead of Keris as he knelt to stare into the griffon's eyes. “Looks like you've outlived your usefulness. Back into the birdhouse with you, buddy boy.” He motioned towards a pair of dredgers, and they dragged Keris' numb body away. “Time for me to get back to work.”
“Mrmmff... please...” Keris hissed, his vision swimming. Magenta hawkeyes darted left and right, catching the sobbing faces of families and the thousand-mile-stare of orphans. “...somepony... stop... st-stop...” And he was out like a light, his dazed mind flashing through a million violent memories before finally surrendering to unconsciousness.
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Dear IC,
We eagerly await Skagra's decapitation
-signed, the members of the Austraeoh-Keris combined fanclub.
Oh, RD, you know that once Twilight closes the curtains and decides to ignore the real world, she doesn't open them again.
6633709 So when's the next full moon?
Battle is over, Keris is going back to the brig, but I can't help but feel as though Red Barge lost. Now Rainbow has all but begged for the help of her friends. Will they listen?
6633718 Not sure, but I do hope the "otherwise princess of frienship" comes out for a little chat with Luna so she can get schooled a bit.
Sooo... what with Swab, Croche and RD now? That's the question.
Looks like the swerve Monket took to avoid the blasts, meant with the ship leaning right over, he kept going in the big loop to keep it stabil till the pumps caught up, and they could line up and come back.
Its the Element Of Suprise.
Poor Kerris, finding out the hard way just how infused the Red Barge is, body and soul, with Verlaxions Dredge Corruption.
Now the pirates are going back to Mudtop, but how much more resources will they have there, with Chandler going psychotic in his own right, given that Monket has far fewer resources now, and they were easy to pick off because they were clustered.
Me, if three ships against two left one badly damaged and one running, Id send four back, along the compass points, and pound the place from the centre out, Break it into sub struts that can only contain a few Dredgers at a time.
That, or given the Sea ponies, get them to turtle several ton of Dredge Coal right under Skagras fortress. Either way works.
Man, the Feckless Four (well, three right now) are really giving me a case of the ass.
Poor Keris...
Still no Rainbow colored Asskicking
Am disappoint.
With the battle over, Skagra and company will find Swab and Croche with Rainbow...
I wonder if he'll do something to the foals to make Fluttershy genuinely pissed off?
Okay, even I'll admit Keris deserved that. Also, having seen the shit Skagra does, I'd say he got off easy.
Don't waste your breath kittycat, these ponies couldn't give less of a rats ass if they tried.
If you're going to die to invaders, may as well go down swinging. You gotta respect their commitment to their home.
-In the end isolation, hunted by a nation. Utaan.
Nice turnaround, but still a hollow victory. Keris is K.O.'d, and soon to be back in the brig alongside a still-not-freed-yet Rainbow Dash.
And the two rugrats. Hmmm...
6633744 Remember, they want something on Red Barge, to get that they need it mostly intact and afloat. Bombing the surface of a ship doesn't tend to sink it unless something important is hit. By comparison the Sea Pony trick of yours runs the risk of outright sinking Red Barge entirely. Several tons of explosive could easily break the keel of the barge (if it is a multi-hull design, that only means one hull sinks and drags the others down with it. Even if the 'Rainbow Rouge' survives (and lets be honest, when she survives) she can easily escape in the chaos of panicking individuals. Why waste time and effort and risk everything when you can just blockade them and starve them out, or just try again later?
Well, I'm not really surprised the dredgers ignored Keris.
I mean, consider it from their perspective. Here we have this group of people, many of whom have been living their life a certain way for as long as they've been alive. It more or less is all they know.
Suddenly, we have an outsider who is telling them to act in a completely contrary manner to how they've been brought to live. Consider that going against the typical manner of living results in torture/execution by the top dredger. Following orders means they live longer.
As for Swab, he's still young enough, low enough in the pecking order, and idealistic enough that the status quo doesn't really hold enough value to him to obey it.
Kyron smiled. “Being wise means striving to be wiser. Ynahluutr, 192
6633919
Hmm, thats something I havent quite worked out yet, the particular layout, design of Red Barge. because of the various parts, I was thinking more of a Starfish design than a spider or centipede. Dambusting the core only works on Starfish.
Huh. I thought this battle was gonna be the climax of the Red Barge arc. I guess not. I guess that leaves the playing field clear for the rest of the Right Talon to descend on the place.
And Rainbow really needs to get harmonic on Skagra's ass. For Red Barge's sake, as well as her own.
Well, I suppose I must take it all back. Mister Monket scores plucky crushing victory in a destroyed ship and becomes the God of Minor Naval Battles. I'm ashamed to have doubted my counterpart and ashamed to have attempted to obligate you into honouring my misplaced national pride in some other manner. Terribly sorry, old chap.
I would still like to see some orderly queueing though.
Knew that dirty slaver-hippy wasn't dead yet.
Wait... Oh god, Monket is a slaver, dirty, and deadlocked.
Who else could be described like that?
Monket is a male Roarke.
Rainbow Dash clearly is in great emotional pain. If there's anytime that she needs her friends, it's now.
6634116
I don't want to think about this yet. Give me twenty minutes to headbang the closest wall.
It almost seems as if the action is ending too early. Dash is yet to be free...
6633965 Some of the more exotic types of starfish might be an apt description, like this oneteacheratsea.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/basket-starfish.jpg , it is called a basket starfish, just one giant mess held together by something. however if Red Barge is large enough the specific design would probably be a moot point. A large enough section of the things own weight suddenly no longer being held up by ocean would likely cause the section given a massive air pocket underneath to collapse. From there failures would spread from system to system, eventually killing the whole thing.
Dun dun duuuuuun!
i.imgur.com/fC2oNBH.jpg
6634090
I almost feel dirty for wanting one of these two factions to come out on top if nobody else intervened in time. But then one side did have a host of innocent lives trying to steer clear of the madness. The others would have gutted the lot of 'em if they had the chance.
White Barge? The rest of the Claws? Haul ass pls.
Damn so Monket did survive, what a shame. Also come on Keris, you didn't see that coming?
6634276
Well ok, a male Searonese. Since Roarke didn't see sport in slaving.
6634296
Depends, did the guards around RD fight off the Pirates? We can assume but we don't know yet, maybe they pull through and one of them pulls Loyalty off.
Listen to rainbow
The cycles never ends...
6635016
War... War has never changes.
6633718
Yes.
6633724 I am eagerly awaiting Luna pulling a 'Castigation' of the Senate' moment on them
We ride forever, rusty and red.
... I'm starting to really look forward to Twilight and co.'s eventual return, hopefully accompanied by a verbal smackdown or two. Really, if they were serious about opposing Rainbow's more violent actions, they would be debating and chastising her at every opportunity. How on earth do they expect stonewalling her to help? I suspect that their objections are less about the actual victims than about themselves. At least Flutters is brave enough to face the world, as horrible as it is. They're just burying their heads in the sand, and hoping that it all goes away on its own.
It almost seems out of character for Twilight to act this way, but then I remember that this the Twilight from the beginning of Season Two. She was much less open minded, more prone to tunnel vision in regards to interpersonal conflict, and still very much a student of friendship.
New topic: I can't decide whether I want Skagra and Co. to live or die. I'm a fan of grim humor, so Skagra's lines always crack me up, but on the other hand... everything else about him.
Oh Keris, at least you tried.
Keris buddy, friend, pal, what the hell did you expect from Skag? A warm hug and a pat on the back?
Birdie boy needs to wake up and smell the coal, he's on Red Barge now and mercy ain't the order of the day
well, Monket decided to channel blackbeard for a bit
Rainbow's friends really need to wake up and smell the bloodshed. This isn't a perfect, pretty world, but it's one they're stuck in.
So I had a random thought while reading the comments about the structure of the barge, wouldn't naming the struts after the cardinal directions on a mobile platform be completely confusing?
I can imagine the conversation now:
"Hey, Skagra needs a maintenance crew over on the west strut"
"But I thought the structural damage was on the north strut"
"It was but we just made a clockwise rotation"
"Wait... wouldn't that mean it's the east strut now?"
"...I don't know, just go over there!"
6635339
my little ostriches : hiding is magic !
First, we had White Barge beginning to sell its dredge coal to the colonists. Now, Red Barge's production has collapsed—at best. The continent is going to have to live on a lot less coal. In response, Verlaxion shall remain missing in action at the Council.
6634116 6634276 I guess a contrast I see between Monket and Roarke is that he's scared poopless by RD going full chaos-mode. Roarke seemed to have sympathy/pity for RD when seeing her in full chaos-mode (in the Noble Jury[ship] crashing into Val Roan shield scene)
From Rainbow's speech, I'm willing to bet that Swab is so confused right now.
...is it bad I like Skagra and Monket more now?
It seems like Keris still holds on to the hope that he can bring some of that glory of Verlaxion to Red Barge. I wonder how long it will take for him to give up on that.
Yeah, figured they'd betray Keris again
What did Keris expect? You don't change people by trying to speak sense into them. Well, at least not those kind if people.
Back to the birdcage.
People keep complaining they betrayed Keris, but his wings were still bound. I don't think he had any expectation of being allowed to leave. The method of re-detaining him was a bit crude, but they are dredgers.
6769060
Now if only the girls would see that.